The following cartoon accompanied the print version of Francisco Uribe’s article “The Paradox of Liberalism” (Philosophy Now, Issue 110). In this article, the writer discusses why the rise of fundamentalism poses particular challenges for liberalism given the latter’s core tenet that individuals should be able to act as they see fit…
The following cartoon accompanied the print version of Brian Kings’s article “The Prisoner’s Dilemma and The Evolution Of Morality” (Philosophy Now, Issue 109). In this article, the writer explores the evolution of morality through game theory, specifically: The Prisoner’s Dilemma. This is a game that you “win” by getting the lowest number of years in jail. The outcome depends on whether or not you decide to rat out your partner in crime, thereby exemplifying either selfish or cooperative behaviour. Ideally, both partners would remain silent… ideally.
Feel free to read more about the game and its tenets here, which is summarized in the following image. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma
The following cartoon accompanied the print version of Samuel Kaldas’s article Descartes vs. Cudworth on The Moral Worth of Animals (Philosophy Now, Issue 108). In this article, the writer compares two views on the nature of animals and their implications for our moral responsibility towards them. It’s interesting to compare Descartes views – disturbing to many today – to those of his contemporary Cudworth, who held surprisingly modern views for his time. Article link provided below.
https://philosophynow.org/issues/108/Descartes_versus_Cudworth_On_The_Moral_Worth_of_Animals
The following is very loosely based on the recent research in telomeres, aging & disease. I took a bit of a left turn into Greek mythology. Everyone needs more Greek mythology in their life.
The following S&F cartoon was created for The Potent, a Canadian environmental news and media blog. It’s surprisingly difficult to find consistent information about the impact of nanoparticles on human/environmental health, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we read more about them in the future.
The following cartoon accompanied the print version of Joshua Farris’s What’s So Simple About Personal identity? (Philosophy Now, Issue 107). The article discusses the various theories about what makes up personal identity. For example, some feel that identity is ultimately the result of the collection of memories over time, whereas others argue that it is more attributable to the persistence of character over time, among many other competing theories that I’m not sure we will ever be able to truly resolve.
The following cartoon accompanied the print version of Marianne Talbot’s How to Think: Critical Reasoning (Philosophy Now, Issue 106). The full article can be viewed here: https://philosophynow.org/issues/106/Critical_Reasoning — enjoy!
True story! See the recent issue of Canadian Geographic, http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/jf13/geo-engineering_climate_change.asp
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